Erraid and Tinker's Hole

 We set off from Fidden campsite through a maze of...

 ..pink granite skerries.

Donald kept well out in his little RIB but we...

 ...were able to paddle through the shallows where the water was as clear as green glass.

We reached the rocky shore of Erraid. Alan is looking at the cottages which were built for the keepers of the Dubh Artach lighthouse and later the keepers of the Skerryvore lighthouse joined them when the Skerryvore shore station at Hynish in Tiree closed. The lighthouse engineer was Thomas Stevenson, father of the author Robert Louis Stevenson (more about him in the next post).

 High above Lorna on the skyline of Erraid, the white dome of...

 ...the lighthouse signal tower looks out over the  Sea of the Hebrides to the distant lights.

As we paddled round the pink granite shore of Erraid it was baking hot especially when we entered the narrow windless channel of the Tinker's Hole. Ian is down to a T shirt but was still too hot.

We caught up with Donald who had stopped on a tidal sand spit to photograph the signal station.

He passed us again as there is a deep channel through the gap.

 Tinkers Hole is a well known yacht anchorage as it is well sheltered given the otherwise exposed position of the Ross of Mull.

 We took our time as we were...

 ...in no hurry to leave...

 ...this magical place of cool green sea and...

 ...and warm pink rock but all too soon...

 ...we left the confines of Tinker's Hole and...

...exited onto the exposed south coast of Erraid.

Time stands still in Loch Sween

The mouth of Loch Sween is guarded by the grim walls of the remains of Castle Sween which...

 ...is one of the oldest stone castles in Scotland. I have used a great deal of artistic licence in the composition of these photos as nowadays the castle is besieged on all sides on land by serried rows of modern caravans. Little is known of the origins of the castle but it is believed to date from the late 12th century when it was built by a lord Suibhne in the Norman style. It changed hands many times before it was abandoned in the mid 17th century. However, so well was it constructed that time seems to have stood still for the castle over the last four centuries or so.

 The wind from the north had increased so we crossed to the loch's NW shore to gain some shelter. The offshore wind carried the heady coconut scent of the Kokatat yellow gorse bushes.

 Elsewhere the shore was bare rock and the perspective of this photo emphasised the linearity of this long ribbon like loch.

In places, the wind freed just enough to allow some close hauled paddle sailing and we crossed to the SE shore. Soon...

 ...we had left the entrance to the loch and the Sound of Jura far behind. We were beginning to get a sense of closure on our expedition to Jura and Islay.

We tacked across to the NW shore again and paddled inside Taynish Island where we passed Taynish bath house and jetty. 

 There was just a hint of the buds breaking in the deciduous trees of the Taynish nature reserve. We heard the contrasting calls of a willow warbler in the woods and a great northern diver on the water.

As we approached the end of our journey at Tayvallich the Shannick, the Jura passenger ferry passed on her way to Jura. two sea kayakers were hitching a lift for a trip across the Sound of Jura in much less time than we had just made.

We now turned west into the sheltered waters of the natural harbour at Tayvallich where...

 ...sheltered by the wind we unloaded the boats in warm spring sunshine before...

...shuttling across to Carsaig Bay on the Sound of Jura where we had left the other car. Beyond the NLV Pharos the north end of Jura beckoned. I seemed ages ago we had set off from this spot but in reality it had only been three days. That is what I like about a good sea kayak expedition, time seems to stand still and so many things get packed in to what is actually a very brief time.

A busy dawn in the Sound of Islay

We had camped on the SE coast of Islay and high hills to the NW meant we had not enjoyed a sunset. However, we enjoyed a wonderful dawn over...

 ...the sound of Islay with Jura in the distance. Indeed it had turned out to be a very comfortable camp.

I took an early morning walk in the warm dawn light. There was only a slight north wind rippling the Sound of Islay but it was forecast to get up to F4/F5 by mid morning.

I  came across the sad remains of the farmstead of Gleann Choireadail (glen of the corrie of the valley i.e. a boggy hollow).

The inhabitants had probably been cleared  here from more fertile ground inland. Maybe they survived a couple of generations before giving up the struggle for survival and emigrating to more fertile ground in the New World?

We had pitched our tents on what had once been their most fertile ground but all around the ground that was once their livelihood was now just bracken and bog.

While the tents dried in the early morning sunshine we walked back to...

 ...where we had landed the boats and...

 ...soon had breakfast going while we watched...

 ..a succession of ships making their way down the Sound. First was the MV Hebridean Isles, the CalMac ferry enroute between Port Askaig on Islay and Kennacraig on Kintyre. The ferry was followed by...

 ...HMS Blyth M111, a Royal Navy mine warfare vessel which is based in the Clyde. She was also returning from the Joint Warrior exercise.

Next down the Sound was the STS Stavros S Niarchos, which we had seen heading to Colonsay the previous day.

 As she motored down the Sound we made our final preparations to launch but...

...we paused to admire her fine lines under the Paps of Jura.

No room in the bothy and things that might have been...

 At the north end of the Sound of Islay the Ruvall lighthouse stands tall. It was built high so that it could also be seen from the south end of the Sound of Islay (see below). As we were discussing the lighthouse we noticed that the tide had turned in the Sound and it was now time to hitch a ride south.

The Jura coast line continued to amaze. At Alt Bun an Eas (burn with the waterfall at its foot) a deep V gorge has been cut through a raised sea cliff. the gorge is too big to have been cut by the current burn and dates from the days after the Ice Age when a huge torrent of meltwater made its way to the sea and the land rose as the weight of the ice sheet diminished.  The gorge has a series of waterfalls and infinity pools just above the beach.

Tony and I climbed up to these pools on a previous visit and Ian and I noted the possibility of a refreshing shower here the next day.

I never tire of this coastline and have paddled it 10 times now. This might not seem that much but considering how hard it is to get here from Glasgow it is a lot!

 At first the tide carried us gently down the Sound but the spring rate is 5 knots and...

 ...soon we were fair zipping along.

 The bottom of the Sound of Islay is very clean so despite the speed of the current, there are no overfalls and it only becomes rough if the tide is against the wind (as we would experience the following day!)

Although the water was like a millpond we passed the lighthouse at Carragh an t-Sruith (pillar of the current) at a casual 15km/hr!

We hit 16.4km/hr in the narrows between Feolin and Port Askaig where the Jura ferry MV Eilean Dhiura crosses. our destination was An Cladach bothy, which lies beneath the highest summit to the right of the ferry.

South of the narrows there were some great eddies which carried us off course but soon we arrived at...

...An Cladach bothy on the SE Islay shore (where Tony and I had stayed exactly a year ago). Unfortunately it was occupied by two couples and there are only 4 bunks. When we went inside the first woman said "Oh look they are all wet!" The second said "Oh look they are all wearing the same". It was then that I noticed the row of shiny polished boots by the door and a huge supply of food and drink including enough uncrushed loaves for a week. We decided to move on. One of the men followed us out and rather apologetically said he was the Mountain Bothy Association maintenance officer and they were up for a week to maintain the bothy.

Whatever the purpose of their visit, we saw no work clothes or maintenance materials. They had obviously been dropped off by boat rather than making their own way in. Parties using bothies for long term holidays seem to be becoming more common. When Ian and I visited Rum in the winter the warden warned us of two undesirables with bows and arrows who had set up residence in Guirdil bothy for two weeks. Exactly a year previously Tony and I had come across some Glaswegians in Cruib Lodge in Jura when we arrived after sunset. They told us they had been there for 10 days. Fortunately because it was outwith deer shooting season the estate side of the lodge was unlocked and they were in there. So we were able to stay in the MBA side. Another sea kayaking friend came across a man and two alsatian dogs who had been in a non MBA bothy in the Sound of Arisaig for 3 weeks! Whatever, I would only stay a night or two in a bothy as long term residence effectively decreases the number of people who  can take shelter there.

The sun had just set on the shore so we paddled down the rocky coast looking for somewhere to land and set up camp before dark. Mike and I landed in a little rocky inlet and were just about to explore when our VHF radios burst into life. It was the ferry MV Finlaggan warning the "warship in the Sound of Islay" to keep clear while she berthed at Port Askaig.

 The warship very politely assured Finlaggan that there would be no obstruction to berthing.

 The warship proved to be a Royal Navy type 23 frigate, HMS Iron Duke, which was also involved in Joint Warrior. This was her on her way south after live firing exercises at Cape Wrath in which she used her 4.5" front mounted gun. Unfortunately the wash of both vessels trapped Mike and I in the gully for some time and the sun...

 ...had well set before we were able to launch and found somewhere more suitable to set up camp. If you enlarge this photo, you will just see the light from Ruvaal lighthouse 17km away to the NNW up the Sound of Islay. The photo also shows what would have been a glorious sunset when viewed from the little cove between the dykes of Jura, where we had last stopped and were tempted to camp.

 It does not pay to think of what might have been, either golden sunsets or warm bothy fires, instead we concentrated on getting the loaded boats up the beach and setting up...

 ...the tents in the light of the gloaming and a full moon.

Not only had we brought tents we had also brought wood and a bag of charcoal, we soon had a warming fire going. What might have been a very uncomfortable night passed in great comfort, no doubt helped by some generous snifters of malt whisky. Another disaster was realized when I realized I had left the flask of Islay malt (Caol Isla) in the car. Fortunately reserve supplies of Jura and Speyside malts were available!